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Relax! Straight Talk About Back Problems

by Medindia Content Team on Nov 28 2006 7:18 PM

Here is some suave news! Researchers say that if you hate being told to sit upright by others, because you long to recline, you are justified ! That is indeed what suits your body better. Sitting ramrod straight may hurt your back, comments the new study.

A team of Scottish radiologists presented their findings recently at Chicago.They conducted their studies on 22 healthy adults. The volunteers were monitored using a specialized MRI scanner that could record their images as they assumed various postures for the purpose of study. The researchers specifically scrutinized the effects of three different postures while sitting down. Sitting hunched forward, sitting upright at 90º angle ,and sitting reclined back with feet touching the ground without the knees at right angles to the floor, were studied.

The results of the MRI scan showed signs of increased stress on the spinal disc in the lower back ,when the volunteers sat upright at 90 degrees. Over a period of time such stress can inevitably lead to back pain owing to various chronic ailments opined the researchers.

Dr. Waseen Bashir One of the authors, from the University of Alberta Hospital, explained that when you sit upright your muscles are stressed and have to work against gravity. The most comfortable position for the body therefore, seems to be reclining at an angle of 135º.This apparently minimizes the stress on the back muscle Psoas major .When upright this muscle is perpetually tensed.

This theory however is not completely novel. It is a reflection of a scientific paper presented almost half a century ago, in 1953, which had presented a hypothesis on the same lines. Thereafter ,it could not be proven, and hence was abandoned.

Source-Medindia
MST


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